Getting a live Maine lobster for dinner? Here is a basic recipe for how to cook live lobsters.

Cooking Live Maine Lobsters

Hi Renee,

Is there another way to kill the lobster with a knife before plunging it alive in the boiling water? Just curious. I'm concerned about avoiding unnecessary suffering.

Sorry to sound silly...

Hi Lori,

Not silly at all. I think many people are concerned about this. Here is how the Lobster Institute from the University of Maine tackles this subject (just cut-and-paste from their website):

Do lobsters feel pain when you cook them?

The Lobster Institute has received many inquiries about whether boiling lobsters is humane. Being concerned about this important question, researchers conducted experiments and studied the lobster's nervous system. The nervous system of a lobster is very simple � not unlike that of an insect. Neither insects nor lobsters have brains. For an organism to perceive pain it must have a more complex nervous system. Neurophysiologists tell us that lobsters, like insects, do not process pain.

Here is the address to the University of Maine's Lobster Institute, for more information on lobster sustainability and the lobster industry in general:
http://www.lobsterinstitute.org/

Edited to add the University of Maine's Lobster Institute's web address.

Thanks, Renee. That is interesting and good to know. It does seem that lobsters are just big bugs. But even when you kill bugs with bug stray, you see their "death struggle" and it really upsets me to witness it.

What do you know about octopi?

Octopus are intelligent creatures. However, according to this article researchers still don't know how invertebrates and cephalopods interpret 'pain' or even if they feel it. This is an interesting article from The Senate Standing Committee on Legal and Constitutional Affairs from the Parliment of Canada:

Do Invertebrates Feel Pain?


Interesting stuff!